Weiland told not to rush back from shoulder surgery

The Sports Xchange

May 3, 2012 4:39 PM ET

--RHP Kyle Weiland will be encouraged to take his time recovering from arthroscopic surgery to clean up what the Astros believe is an infection in his right shoulder. "We don't want to put a timetable on it," manager Brad Mills said. Mills stressed that the condition seems so unusual that the Astros are foremost concerned about more than just ability to pitch.

--SS Jed Lowrie has been one of the hottest hitters in the National League, with six multi-hit games in his last nine, raising his average to .329 for the season. "I'm seeing the ball well right now and getting good pitches to hit," Lowrie said.

--1B Carlos Lee could see this three-game winning streak coming when the Astros were losing close games in bunches. "We're not playing any games where we're out of it," Lee said. "It just seems like we're always fighting to the end and everything's working pretty good right now."

--OF Jordan Schafer, should he play Friday after leaving Wednesday's game because of lower back stiffness, has a chance to tie the club record for on-base streak to start a season. Schafer has reached in all 24 games he's played. The record belongs to Denis Menke, who reached in his first 25 games of 1969.

--LHP Wandy Rodriguez has established himself as the Astros' top starter, but also as perhaps a valuable trade piece come July when the Astros might look to continue shedding salary as part of their rebuilding around young players. Rodriguez, who has a 1.64 ERA, has been getting better each time out. He's allowed four runs over 27 innings in his last four starts.

BY THE NUMBERS 7 -- Home runs for the Astros over their last four games, after hitting 11 in their first 21 games.

QUOTE TO NOTE "We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the biggest thing is that these guys realize the things that they're doing win games." -- Manager Brad Mills, on the Astros' three-game winning streak that followed an 8-14 start.